High Viability of Cells
Encapsulated in Degradable
Poly(carboxybetaine) Hydrogels
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Abstract
In this study, we report a degradable poly(carboxybetaine)
(pCB)
hydrogel, produced via a thiol–disulfide exchange reaction
for cell encapsulation. A pCB dithiol was synthesized as a cross-linker
and reacted with a pyridyl dithiol-containing CB copolymer to form
a hydrogel. We evaluated the biocompatibility of the pCB-based hydrogel
via encapsulation of three cell types, including NIH3T3 fibroblasts,
MG63 osteoblast-like cells, and HepG2 hepatocarcinoma cells. Up to
90% of cells retained their viability in the pCB hydrogel even at
low cell-seeding densities under serum-free conditions after a 9-day
culture. Results are compared with a degradable poly(ethylene glycol)
methacrylate (PEGMA) hydrogel, which showed very low cell viability
under serum-free condition after a 3-day culture. We incorporated
an RGD peptide into the CB hydrogel using a cysteine-terminated cross-linker,
which was shown to promote cell proliferation